In providing and using a fluid stream apparatus, it occasionally happens that the fluid stream is misdirected, e.g. above or below or beyond a prescribed target, at times because the stream is activated at the wrong time (in the case of a moving target) or to the wrong place. Workers are interested in detecting such conditions, e.g. when and where they occur. An object of this disclosure is to facilitate such detection, doing so automatically.
The misdirection of such a stream can also call for provision of spillage-collection means (e.g. a suitable receptacle placed and adapted to catch and collect the misdirected fluid). Another object of this disclosure is to so provide for such collection.
And, workers are at times interested in determining the mass of so-collected misdirected fluid (e.g. automatically monitoring its accumulation). A further object hereof is to so monitor the accumulation of the so-collected misdirected fluid mass, and to also preferably provide an automatic indication thereof --especially when the collection means is subject to overflow and it is useful to automatically indicate that fact.
An example of such fluid stream is that projected from an ink-jet printer, particularly where passing documents are to be printed and jet-misdirection/-mistiming can result in "streaking" of documents.
Other malfunctions can cause ink jets to be projected before, or after, an entire subject document passes the print station; or to be projected above the document (e.g., when check height is less than "standard") --all such resulting in ink jets projected with no document to intercept them ("bypass" or "streaking"). In other cases a pin hole etc. may exist, or be formed, in a document, allowing an ink jet to be projected through the document ("thru-streaking").
Any, and all, such conditions can be characterized as "streaking", and are troublesome (e.g., often resulting in unacceptable print results, not to mention creating a messy pool of ink on the document transport track in the printer, etc.)--and are obviously to be avoided or terminated (and corrected) as soon as possible. This invention is directed toward automatically detecting such "streak" conditions and providing resultant indicator signals (e.g., alarm, error-signal to stop printing action).
A typical ink jet printer system consists of 128 tiny individual jet nozzles delivering ink to inscribe a document as it passes by the print head. As mentioned, the possibility of "streak-errors" occurring in the print system calls for failure detection measures. My subject streaker detection system offers a remedy, detecting errors involving erroneous jetting of ink continuously from one or more jet nozzles (i.e., "streaking")--"streaking" being understood to also include jet-ink projected through the document material, (e.g., through a pin-hole, being leaked-through when a check is being printed).
An object hereof is to address at least some of the foregoing problems and to provide at least some of the mentioned, and other, advantages and features.